June 17th, 2005

One article in Businessweek led to a discussion about retaining talent (hey, we’re a normal company; even we have people walking out). So, he wrote in an email that makes a whole lotta sense to me as a manager. If you’re working in a senior position in any organisation, you will have members of your work force going away sooner or later. One way is to not do anything about it which is stupid. The other, and more sensible thing to do, is to try to retain the good ones for as long as possible.

This is what he wrote in the email (slightly pruned on the edges):

Everywhere I have read, the most important things to do are:

IDENTIFY people who wish to work hard, who put their minds in understanding the jobs and problems, and want to improve and deliver.

SHOW them a CLEAR career path in the organization to grow.

APPRECIATE their work.

Provide them with CHALLENGES.

Finally create a fun and happy ENVIRONMENT to work.

I am sure there are other things, but if we can do all of the above, I am positive, we can improve the quality of resources in the company, and move towards a steady growth path that benefits everyone.